A qualitative exploration of self-identity during the role transition to a nurse educator

There is a critical shortage of nursing faculty in the U.S. and globally that is limiting the number of eligible nursing students admitted into nursing programs. To assist in recruitment and retention of faculty, it is necessary to understand how the transition from clinical bedside nursing practice to college and university nursing education work impacts the educator's self-identity. This purpose of this study was to explore the effect of transitioning from a nursing role to an educator role on nurses' self-identity. The research question was, “How do nurses perceive the impact on their self-identity when transitioning from a nursing practice role to an educator role?” In this qualitative study, data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews and a demographic survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually one-on-one with one of the researchers. After the interviews, the data was analyzed, and themes essential to the experience were identified. The participants were a sample of eight registered nurses who currently work in a nurse educator's role and were enrolled as doctoral graduate nursing students. Eight nurse educators were interviewed about their transition from clinical nursing to academia and its' impact on their self-identity. Analysis of data included open, axial and selective coding. Four themes emerged from data analysis, including: transition to academia shock, being a novice, grief and loss, and grounded in purpose. To recruit and retain faculty, it may benefit nursing programs to develop processes that mitigate the shock, grief and loss that occurs with transition to academia while leveraging strategies that emphasize educators' impact on the profession and society.